The Silence of the Lambs director Jonathan Demme has sadly passed away at the age of 73.

According to IndieWire, the Oscar winner died this morning (April 26) at his home in New York, with the cause said to be oesophageal cancer and complications from heart disease. He was originally treated for the disease in 2010, but suffered a recurrence in 2015.

Edgar Wright, Pixar's Andrew Stanton and Evil Dead star Jane Levy have been among those paying tribute to Demme on Twitter.

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Very sad to hear of the passing of the great Jonathan Demme. Admired his movies, his documentaries, his concert films. He could do anything.

The Silence of the Lambs remains only one of three movies to have won the 'Big Five' Oscars of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay, alongside It Happened One Night (1934) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975).

Its achievement was all the most remarkable given that the adaptation is the only horror movie ever to win the Best Picture Oscar.